More Articles

A Gahanna man who played “naked games” with young boys he befriended has been charged in federal
court with coercing a minor to engage in sexual conduct.

Gahanna police arrested James A. Mills, 71, yesterday at his home at 214 Flint Ridge Dr. after
an investigation by detectives and Homeland Security agents. The charge says Mills coerced the
minors so he could create child pornography.

Police had arrested him in September and charged him with pandering sexually oriented material
involving a minor. That case was dropped so that the federal charge could be filed.

The complaint in U.S. District Court describes police interviews with a 15-year-old boy who said
Mills gave him wine and had him remove all his clothes and masturbate while Mills watched and a
camera in the bedroom videotaped them. The boy, who had run away from home and was staying with
Mills in September, then sent his mother a message asking her to pick him up.

Police also interviewed another individual who had stayed at Mills’ home this fall. That witness
had seen Mills playing the “naked game” with a minor and said Mills would give children money or a
place to stay if they would get naked for him.

The witness also told police that Mills had cameras in at least three rooms of the home that
recorded continuously. Gahanna police found that Mills had interior doors barricaded with pieces of
wood and had a combination lock on his bedroom door.

Detectives found a video of the 15-year-old naked; photographs of Mills in the nude with
unidentified males; photographs of male genitalia; and a photograph of a nude teenage boy taken in
1998. Police have identified and interviewed that man.

Mills told investigators he is a nudist and has persuaded three to five juveniles to remove
their clothes.No hearings in federal court had been scheduled for Mills as of yesterday. Last
night, he was in the Franklin County jail. The coercion charge carries a minimum prison sentence of
15 years.